Cliquet

One search engine gives 3,100 hits for "cliquet" -- which in French means "clicky thing" or ratchet -- and not a blessed one of 'em has anything to do with bourbon and orange juice.

Ingredients

1 1/2 ounces whiskey -- rye whisky

1 small orange juice

1 teaspoon rum -- dark rum

old-fashioned glass

Instructions:

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Pour the rye (you can also use bourbon), the juice, and the rum in a large Old-Fashioned glass. Add 2-3 ice cubes and mix.

The Wondrich Take:

The Web may be a wonderful thing, but nowhere on it will you find the origin of this drink. (And where are you reading this? Exactly). One search engine gives 3,100 hits for "cliquet" -- which in French means "clicky thing" or ratchet -- and not a blessed one of 'em has anything to do with bourbon and orange juice. At least, that's what young Hardwicke over in Research assures us. He checked. (At least, that's what he says he was doing in there. All afternoon.) Nor do the standard bar books provide much enlightenment. All they tell us is that the bar at the old Waldorf-Astoria hotel (where the Empire State Building now stands) used to serve these, back in the rosy days before Prohibition. Not much, yet it will suffice, for anything good enough for the patrons of "the Hyphen" (as the W.-A. used to be known) is worth a second look. But even assessed on its own merits, the Cliquet passes muster. While not the kind of thing we'd serve in the evening, it does find a comfortable niche among the brunch drinks. It's simple, tasty, mellow, and good for you (sort of -- plenty of Vitamin C, anyway). Plus, it doesn't involve vodka or tomato juice. There are people, it turns out, who don't care for vodka or tomato juice. Or celery, for that matter. And some of them like whiskey.

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